The doctor at home and nurse's guidebook / edited by George Black.

Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The doctor at home and nurse's guidebook / edited by George Black. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    131/684 (page 103)
    nurse’s arms Is given by Dr. Eberle : “ The spine and its muscles sel- dom acquire sufficient strength and firmness before the end of the third month to enable the child to support its body in an upright position without inconvenience or risk of injury. Until this power is mani- festly acquired the infant should not be carried or suffered to sit with Its body erect, without supporting It in such a manner as to lighten the pressure made on the spine, and aid it in maintaining the up- right posture of its head and trunk ; therefore, at first (a few days after birth), the infant should be taken from its cradle or bed two or three times daily and laid on its back upon a pillow, and carried gently about the chamber. After the third or fourth week the child may be carried in a reclining posture on the arms of a careful nurse, in such a manner as to afford entire support both to body and head. This may be done by reclining the infant upon the forearm, the hand embrac- ing the upper and posterior parts of the thighs, whilst its body and head are supported by resting against the breast and arms of the nurse. When held in this way, it may be gently moved from side to side, or up and down, while it is carefully carried through a well- ventilated room. The manner in which infants and young people are handled by their nurses and by those who daily surround them is one that is productive of mischief to the child, and requires to be noticed here. Thus an infant is often rudely grasped by one or other arm and lifted from the ground, the weight of the body being meanwhile almost entirely supported by the arms, and as the joints of an infant are not so deeply excavated as those of the adult* and portions of bone are but imperfectly united to each other, the former may be very easily dislocated and the latter separated or broken. CHILDREN, SIGNS OF DISEASE IN See Disease, Signs of, in Chil- dren. CHILDREN, SLEEP FOR Childhood, it is well known, requires a greater amount of sleep than mature age. The rule should be, for children between five and seven, about twelve hours’ sleep ; children above that age, ten, and never less than eight. Care should be taken that they are disturbed as little as possible. The time for going to sleep should be seven in summer and about six o’clock in winter. Keeping strictly to this hour will not only be beneficial to the children’s health, but will accus- tom them to a certain sense of punctuality and obedience, CHILDREN, WARMTH FOR There is no time of life at which warmth is of more importance than in infancy. In a very young child the circulation is almost altogether confined to the surface, the internal organs being yet in a very weak condition. This being the case, to plunge the child into cold water, from an idea of making it hardy, as is done in some countries, and even in the United Kingdom by some ignorant people, is the height of cruelty and follyfor the unavoid- able consequence is that the blood is thrown in upon the internal organs, and inflammation, bowel-complaints, croup and convulsions are very likely to ensue. A baby should be kept at a temperature above what is suitable for a grown person ; it should be warmly but not heavily clothed ; the room in which it is